Chatting with Etienne Hugel & his fab gewurztraminer

Back before I really knew anything about wine, I do remember scanning the shelves of my local wine shop and the the striking yellow label. No, I’m not talking about Yellow Tail, I’m talking about the yellow label from Alsace, Hugel’s yellow label. The house of Hugel has been making wine in Alsace since 1639, I don’t even know if Australia had been found yet by Capt. Cook or whoever it was that stumbled upon that continent but Hugel were making their rieslings and gewurztraminers way back then.

I grabbed the 12th generation of Hugel to be running the family firm, the charming and amusing Etienne Hugel, at the recent Fells Portfolio tasting in central London for a quick chat. Although Etienne had the entire range on display and I did try a fair few of them, we compared notes on what Etienne considers to be Alsace’s and his family’s flagship wine, the Hugel gewurztraminer. Here we are chatting about the latest vintage and the difference between young and old gewurz…